Education

How to become an after school carer

Official title: After school carer

Also called: After school care assistant, After school care manager, After school programme coordinator, Recreation programmer, Holiday programme coordinator, Community recreation adviser, Recreation assistant

After school carers provide care and supervision for children in childcare centres and community facilities.

Main tasks

Provide care for and supervise children
Keep children safe after school
Organise games and activities
Monitor children's behaviour and wellbeing
Comfort and encourage children
Support children with special needs
Teach healthy habits
Talk with parents about progress

How to become one

You usually need experience to become an after school carer and a qualification may be useful. You usually need NCEA Level 2 to do the study or training for this job. Required: to pass a police check. Other requirements: experience working with children; a relevant tertiary qualification in sport and recreation or similar area; a driver licence; a First Aid Certificate.

See the full Tahatū profile

Ways in

Apprenticeship: Apprenticeship in sport and recreation activities. TEC links this job to study in sport and recreation. New Zealand apprenticeship (NZQA level 4). Qualifications: NZ Cert in Outdoor Experiences, NZ Cert in Sport, Exercise and Leisure Operations. Usually 6 to 11 months.
Certificates and diplomas: Intermediate certificates in sport and recreation activities. TEC links this job to study in sport and recreation. Qualifications: NZ Cert in Outdoor and Adventure Education (Multi-skilled), Cert in Sport and Recreation, NZ Cert in Diving (Supervision). Usually 6 months to 1 year. Graduates of these qualifications earn a median $41,000 a year one year after study and $56,000 five years after; 36% are employed one year after (TEC, from Stats NZ IDI data).

Pay · Past change · AI and this job

Median pay: $57,000 a year, a TEC estimate before tax.
Upper: $96,000 a year
TEC shows pay for this job by the hour: median $27.40 an hour.
TEC's pay figures are estimates only. TEC says they must not be used to set pay, in pay negotiations or in visa applications.
Change in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses: Decrease (TEC). This is past change, not a forecast.
People employed in the group Child Carers: 10,548 at the 2018 Census and 5,964 at the 2023 Census (-43.5%). Past change, not a forecast.
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

About 3,000 people did this job at the 2023 Census (TEC).
In the group Child Carers, 88% of workers are female (sex at birth, 2023 Census).
Where people in the group Child Carers work (2023 Census): Auckland 35.4%, Wellington 14.7%, and Canterbury 12.7%.

Questions people ask

How do I become an after school carer?

How much does an after school carer earn in New Zealand?

The Tertiary Education Commission estimates median pay at $57,000 a year, before tax.

Has the number of people working as an after school carer grown in New Zealand?

It has shrunk: TEC records a decrease in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses. This is past change, not a forecast.

Will AI change the work of an after school carer?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

Tertiary Education Commission (Tahatu Career Navigator): Tahatu career ideas: descriptions, tasks, pay estimates, people employed, employment change 2018 to 2023, entry requirements, registration, interest scores (Site scrape 2026-10 (816 career ideas, sitemap lastmod 2026-10-01)), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census totals by topic for individuals 2013, 2018, 2023 (CEN23_TBT_004): employed by occupation, ANZSCO V1.3, summed to unit group (2023 Census (CEN23_TBT_004)), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), retrieved 4 October 2026
Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census 2023: employed by regional council, occupation (ANZSCO V1.3 unit group) and sex at birth (2023 Census), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), retrieved 4 October 2026
International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

This content is sourced from the Tertiary Education Commission through the Tahatū Career Navigator website (www.tahatu.govt.nz) and used under the CC BY 4.0 licence. All or some of the information has been modified by Peernovo. TEC has not approved, endorsed or tested these modifications. TEC will not be held accountable for any errors within this content.

Qualification information from NZQA, used under CC BY 3.0 NZ.

This work is based on/includes Stats NZ's data which are licensed by Stats NZ for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Census data via Figure.NZ.

Includes information from O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

Sources: Tertiary Education Commission, Tahatū Career Navigator (career ideas, pay estimates, entry requirements and study options, CC BY 4.0, modified by Peernovo); Stats NZ, 2023 Census (via Figure.NZ) and the National Occupation List (CC BY 4.0); NZQA qualification information (CC BY 3.0 NZ); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Links between career ideas and ANZSCO groups, degree fields and broad job groups are Peernovo's.

These results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Graduate outcomes: these results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Updated 4 October 2026